White Cloud Presbyterian Church - Callaway County, MO - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

County of chapel: Callaway County
Location of chapel: CR-232 & S. side of MO-F, 3 miles SE of Millersburg

"The White Cloud Presbyterian Church, south side of State Route F at the intersection of CR 232 in Callaway County, Missouri, is locally significant under National Register Criterion C in the area of Architecture. White Cloud is the most pristine example of a gable-end church building in Callaway County and easily reflects its historic appearance. Organized in 1831 as the Millersburg Presbyterian Church, the growing congregation moved to its present location in 1847, building a frame church and opening the cemetery for members and friends. In 1861, the congregation adopted the name White Cloud Presbyterian due to a popular tale of a passerby likening the small church to a sun-lit cloud. When the old building burned, the congregation erected the current church in 1888. Following the tradition of many rural protestant churches in the county and in Missouri, the church is a simple gable-end type with centered entrance and large windows on the sides to provide natural light and ventilation. Though constructed for religious purposes, the property meets Criteria Consideration A as a significant rural property type. Historically and currently, the gable-end church was the most common rural church type in Callaway County. However, very few examples in the county remain unaltered from their period of construction. White Cloud Presbyterian and its associated cemetery are archetypal of a property type that historically housed rural congregations in the county. Its unaltered appearance is an increasingly rare reminder of the mid-to-late 19th century rural landscape. The period of significance is 1888, the date the church was constructed." ~ NRHP Nomination Form